SYLACAUGA — It was 24 years ago his life changed forever. His road was not easy. His trials were not few. But through it all, the community has been there to support him.This is his story.
During a football game his ninth-grade year at Sylacauga High School, Mark-Allen Harris suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. Harris became a quadriplegic at age 14.
It didn’t take long for the community to come together to help him.
“There were just so many things that people did over the years,” he said. “People have given financial donations. They built an addition to the house and built the wheelchair ramp outside. All of the people of Sylacauga have generously supported me and my family in every way possible, and for that, we are eternally grateful.”
Making appointments and getting to the doctor’s office might be easy for some people. But for Harris, a trip to the dentist proved to be extremely difficult.
Harris recalled having a toothache a few weeks ago and having no way to get to the dentist.
“I was informed by the ambulatory service that my insurance would not pay for the ambulance to take me to the dentist because this was considered a non-emergency situation,” he said. “I said maybe I can pay the cost of the ambulance out of my own pocket. At this point, the young lady quoted me a price of $900, and that had to be paid up-front and in full. This bit of news was almost as painful as my toothache.”
Harris said next, he called Dr. Joel Cochran, a dentist in Sylacauga.
“Dr. Cochran immediately sent one of his assistants to my home to take several digital photographs of my entire mouth,” he said. “Several of my neighbors began calling many prominent individuals around the city, trying to get someone to come to my rescue but all efforts failed.”
Harris said that his mother, Ruby Harris, came up with what turned out to be the perfect solution.
“She called Charles Woods of The Community Funeral Home Service,” he said. “Mr. Woods sent a van to my home, and several large men transferred me from my hospital bed onto a stretcher. They took me to Dr. Cochran’s office and rolled me directly into the surgical area. Undoubtedly, the Lord was at work here in my life, making a way where there seemed to be none. I cannot begin to express my enormous gratitude to all of the people who went above and beyond the expected norm and helped me get the medical attention I so desperately needed.”
Harris said through the years, he’s tried to make the best of the life he’s been given.
“I’ve tried to make the best of a bad situation by remaining as active as possible and maximizing each opportunity that came my way,” he said. “I even worked 18 years as a computer programmer for Avondale Mills. By keeping active, it helped me to maintain a positive attitude.”
Although he has limited mobility, he is able to move his arms as a result of therapy treatments. He still has no movement in his hands; therefore, he uses a special tool that allows him to type and press buttons.
Harris said his life has had its ups and down.
“My life has changed in so many ways, some good and some bad,” he said. “For one, my father, J.C. Harris, the source of strength for my entire family, was stricken with Alzheimer’s disease several years ago. Watching this disease slowly destroying my father, the strongest person I have ever known, was the most painful period of my entire life. It soon became clear that putting him in the nursing home was the best course of action for him and for us.”
Harris said as a result of his father’s declining health, he no longer wanted to get into his wheelchair. He said from 2002 to 2004, he got into his wheelchair four times and hasn’t been in it since.
“Due to lack of therapy and the inability to remain active, I have lost nearly all range of motion in my right leg; it is bent in a 45 degree angle,” Harris said. “This now makes it impossible for me to sit in my wheelchair.”
He said through every thing he’s been through, he doesn’t complain.
“Ultimately, I would not have come this far without the love of my Savior, Jesus Christ,” he said. “Today, I look back at the years of pain I’ve experienced, and I count it all joy.”
